Field of the Invention
This invention relates to supported bin floors and particularly to improved sheet metal perforate panel floors such as are used for false floors above plenums in grain bins.
Floors which are used in grain storage bins are oftentimes elevated and supported above a base of the bin thereby creating a plenum between the base and the supported floor. The supported floor has perforations through it so that air which may be heated or ambient, can be passed from outside the bin into the plenum and up through the perforations in the floor for passage through overlying grain. The air may be used to dry, cool or otherwise condition overlying grain in the bin, e.g., to prevent subsequent spoilage of the grain. Such bins may serve as drying bins for continuous or batch drying and/or for longer term storage.
Supported bin floors generally include a plurality of longitudinal panels of uniform width cut to appropriate lengths and arranged side-by-side to substantially cover the entire floor area of the bin, e.g., as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,520. In a common commercial design of these panels, sold under the trademark CHANNEL-LOK owned by Sukup Manufacturing Company, one variant of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,110, a plurality of similar floor panel sections each have inwardly turned male and outwardly turned female flanges of U-shaped cross sections along opposite edges of the panel so that the male flange of one panel section can be positioned and interlocked within the female flange of an adjacent floor panel section; see also FIGS. 5, 6A and 6B of my U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,842 and the related description therein. Floor supports are distributed throughout the plenum, subtend the panels and often engage the outside of the female flanges. In one embodiment the floor supports are substantially "Z" shaped in cross section. In another embodiment as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,110, the supports used have outwardly diverging sides with recesses cut into the upper end of both sides so that the engaged flanges can be received therein. Another form of available support is shown in said U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,842. Other forms of supports are also available, including blocks placed on the base of the bin and onto which are placed the engaged flanges of the floor sections.
The disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,842 for Drying Bin Floor, issued to me, is incorporated herein by reference. As referred to in that patent, one key problem with supported perforate floors in grain bins is that fine materials such as chaff, broken kernels and the like in the grain being stored and/or dried tend to sift through the perforations in these floors with successive uses and collect in the plenum. Such sifting and filling is accelerated in bins which use bottom unloading augers for continuous drying. These augers continuously move or "work" the grain near the supported floor, and incidentally enhance the sifting action. This can result in substantially filling the plenum with fines over a relatively short period, e.g., in as little as one season of use with the floors described above. The accumulation of fines obviously interferes with the air flow desired.
It has been found that such fines often accumulate at a substantially higher rate near the center of the bin. This may be due to the fact that the grain typically is discharged into the bin at the center. In any event, procedures for attempting to clean out the plenum without removing the floor where conventional flooring is used have proven unsatisfactory.
Another problem with conventional floor panels relates to the assembly and disassembly of the floor system. In particular, with conventional panels, it is necessary to install the floor from one side of the bin and move progressively across the bin to the opposite side. It is not possible with such flooring to begin installation near the center of the bin and move outwardly therefrom. Similarly, with the conventional floors of panels which are of the same configuration and progressively interlocked, typically it is necessary to disassemble and remove the entire floor to gain adequate access for cleaning or otherwise working in the entire area of the plenum around the many supports. Such process is time consuming and expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,842 discloses interlocking perforated flooring comprising panels of two designs, alternately positioned, each with a plank portion and subjacent flanges. The first panel design has flanges at both edges which are outwardly turned to form a hat-shaped transverse cross section. The second panel design has channels at both edges which are inwardly turned resulting in a C-shaped transverse cross section. The hat-shaped panels are rested on supports which are arranged on the base of the bin in a predetermined manner with the hat-shaped panels positioned in spaced relation to one another so that a C-shaped panel can be fit therebetween. Thereafter, the C-shaped panels are positioned in the respective spaces and interlocked with the respective outwardly turned channels of the adjacent hat-shaped panels. As a result, any of the C-shaped panels thereafter can be lifted without affecting the hat-shaped panels.
Floor panels of these various cross-sectional shapes typically are produced on roll forming machines having progressive dies. A different machine or at least a different set of dies is required for each different panel shape to be produced. However, these machines are very expensive to acquire or to modify to produce a different shape of floor panel. Many current floor manufacturers have existing equipment to produce the conventional uniform progressive floor panels. Thus, it is desirable to gain the benefits of the use of the hat-shaped and C-shaped panels in bin floors while retaining the use of conventional progressive panels.
It has been found that when using the removable panel floor system described above, it is not necessary to gain access to the plenum at every alternate panel. Also, it would be beneficial if only a select number of C-shaped and hat-shaped panels were interspersed in such floor systems in integration with the conventional panels. Moreover, it would be useful to have supported floor systems where the floor can be assembled from the center of the bin and/or disassembled from the center or other selected segments of the bin floor.
It is an object of this invention to provide a supported grain bin floor system which will satisfy the aforenoted requirements and meet the particular needs for perforated floors in grain storage bins.
It is an object of this invention to provide supported grain bin floors which utilize progressively interlocked floor panels and also provide ready access therethrough to a subjacent plenum at selected locations.
It is another object of this invention to provide a supported grain bin floor which can be disassembled at its center and at selected other areas of the bin to gain access to the underlying space and any accumulated material therein.
It is another object of this invention to provide a supported grain bin floor system which can be assembled beginning at the center of the bin and moving outwardly toward the walls.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a supported grain bin floor system which includes conventional progressive floor panels and that can be used in conjunction with the hat-shaped and C-shaped floor panels disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,842 with support posts of uniform configuration to stabilize the resulting elevated floor and maintain it in its designed state.
Further and additional objects of this invention will appear from the following description, accompanying drawings and appended claims.